J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 12

Dear CrossFit, 13.3, What We Haven’t Seen Yet

Dear CrossFit, Since nearly a million people are speculating this morning about what will be in 13.3, I will dedicate this post to fueling the obsession.  So far we’ve gone overhead twice (snatch, shoulder to overhead), once with a progressively heavier weight.  So far we’ve also done burpees and box jumps and done a large number of light deadlifts.  So what haven’t we seen?  I will limit my predictions to things that can be filmed or easily judged.  For example, running 5k will be left off, as will any WOD that includes multiple runs of 200m or 400m.  The single CrossFitter simply can’t film these, therefore I predict they will never appear in the Open.

Here’s what we haven’t seen, ranked in the order that I think they are most likely to appear.

Wall ball shots, Pullups, Thrusters, Toes to bar (or knees to elbow), Double Unders, Kettlebell swings, goblet squats, Clean and Jerk, HSPU, Muscle Ups, and Pistols. 

I have HSPU, Muscle Ups, and pistols at the end because they are a “high degree of difficulty” skill that will produce a DNF or step discontinuity for the overwhelming majority of CrossFitters.  Because of this fact, I predict one of the three will appear as the final exercise of 13.4 and one of the three will appear as the final exercise of 13.5

Based on this list, I predict 13.3 will be:

7 minutes, AMRAP:

3-3-6-6-9-9-…

95# thrusters, double unders

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit Friend

Dear CrossFit Friend,

I read your post this morning.  The raw emotion that left your heart on the page touched me deeply.  You have come a long way as an athlete, both in physical performance and mental performance.  You have stared down challenges greater than most.  Yes there’s a long way to go, and yes there are daily (hourly? constant?) challenges still to face and hopefully overcome.  These are your challenges.  You know we share some of the same demons.  Luckily you (and I) have found a supportive group of athletes, friends, and coaches who care about your journey.  You mentioned the “numbers”.  I am so impressed that you now keep your numbers.  It’s an extremely powerful tool for recognizing where we are and in which direction we are travelling.  We have to remember that our numbers are our numbers.  There are other people with other numbers and you can benefit from knowing those people and interacting with them and using their energy, experience, training, and encouragement to help you with your own challenges just like they will benefit from knowing you and being around you.  Our numbers are a snapshot in time of where we are and where we’re headed.  The most significant thing about your numbers right now are that you have some (that you actually strode out into the arena and competed) and that in six months you will revisit those numbers with new numbers in hand, with your new body still being transformed, with your new mind still taking control of your new situation, and with the pride and realization that you are no longer up in the stands, you are down on the floor, with the athletes, sweating, bleeding, growing, puking, crawling on hands and knees for one more rep, doing it, not just watching it.  I am lucky that our paths crossed and that now I call you my friend.

I wonder what tomorrows WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, 13.2, What A Difference A Week Makes!

Once again I am writing with chalk still on my hands and sweat still in my hair.  But this week, unlike last week, I am ecstactic with my result (169 reps).  This week was about putting my back to the clock, and focussing on one thing, KEEP MOVING.  Last week was a carefully crafted gameplan that I worked to perfection, insuring a sub-optimal performance because it didn’t allow for a spectacular performance.  Today was grit and go (and go and go and go).  Putting my back to the clock and facing the wall allowed me to stay inside my head with no distractions, and to manage the internal dialogue.  Yes I did 100% step ups and step downs, and am d*mn proud to have done so.  I am thrilled with 169 because I know there’s not one rep I left on the table. 

Can you do that?  Can you walk away from 13.2 knowing you didn’t leave anything on the table?  I hope so.  Because it’s a great feeling (even though I can’t feel my legs).

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, How I’m going to STEP UP and STEP DOWN during 13.2

Dear CrossFit,

I just got back from a couple of hours volunteering at the box.  Got to coach up some people for 13.2, got to do some judging, and got to do some experimenting with the most efficient way to step up and step down.  First, there’s zero chance that I will jump down.  Not just because of information like this (http://sexyasfuck.org/2013/03/14/high-rep-box-jumps-are-stupid/) but also because I have a prosthetic hip, I’m nearly 52, and 24″ is a long way down! 

So, stepping down is a given.  Yes I have a 24″ box jump, and yes I even have a 30″ box jump.  But not after push presses and dead lifts.  And not 45 or 60 or maybe even 75 of them.  Given that I am going to be stepping up, I figured it was a good idea to experiment with stepping up.  Turns out there is an efficient way and a not so efficient way.  The inefficient way is to start from a standing still position, to put one foot up, and then to stand up straight on that one leg.  The efficient way is to step into it, put one foot up and get into a half crouch over that one leg, then bring the other foot up, then use both legs to stand up straight and clear the hips.  It’s way easier because you get momentum on the way up, and you get to use two legs to stand up instead of one.  Also, for efficiency on the way down, bend both knees, get into that same half squat, then lower one leg down.  That way you are “dropping” from about a foot lower than if you step down from standing up straight. 

I heartily encourage you to experiment with different ways to step up and step down.  Do some experiments where you time yourself for ten jumps, rest, then time yourself for ten step ups.  See if it works for you.  Remember, this is only 13.2, and we’ve still got 13.3, 13.4 and 13.5 to go.  If we rupture our Achilles on 13.2, we probably won’t score too well on .3 .4 and .5!

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, 13.2 = Keep Moving, And Don’t Rupture Your Achilles

13.2 is going to produce carnage.  Based on last year’s bloodbath, as many as 3% of the competitors are going to rupture or injure their Achilles tendon.  Don’t be one of them.  You are allowed to step up, you are allowed to step down.  YOU ARE ALLOWED TO STEP DOWN!!!!

13.1 had clear step boundaries built in.  We all knew what we could and couldn’t do.  Even though there were 17 minutes, many of the athletes, nearly 50%, were done after 40-30-30, somewhere around 10-11 minutes.  Another huge % were done after 40-30-30-30-20.  13.2 has no such boundaries.  We all get to suffer for all ten minutes.

5-10-15, AMRAP in ten minutes.  This is one where every rep really will count, and where every rep will count the same.  But where every rep will get harder and harder and harder.  Your body can go for ten minutes.  You know it can, I know it can, CrossFit knows it can, your coaches know it can, even Bob Dole knows it can.  You can move for ten minutes.  But will you….?

This is one where mental control and toughness is the key.  Yes the 115/75# is going to get heavy after a couple rounds.  Yes that 24/20 is going to start looking like Mt. Everest after a few rounds.  Mentally you are going to want to drop the bar.  DON’T DROP THE BAR.  Mentally you are going to want to take extra breaths between the box jumps (or step ups for me).  DON’T.  This is the WOD to see how hard you can go for ten minutes.  Can you control your internal dialogue in a fashion that will allow you to keep moving for all ten minutes?

Here are some ideas about controlling your internal dialogue so that you can keep moving.  You need to have three swing thoughts: one for the shoulder to overhead, one for the deadlift, one for the boxes.  These need to be positive swing thoughts. (“Swing thoughts” is borrowed from when I used to teach golf, where mental control was essential.  You had to have ONE thought in your mind for each type of golf swing.  Just one).

Here are some example swing thoughts:

shoulder to overhead, 5-4-3-2-1.

it’s simple, it’s counting down so you can see the end, and it focusses you on just the shoulder to overhead.  One excellent way to get through ten minutes is to get through each member of the triplet without thinking about the next triplet.

deadlifts: hold onto the bar, hold onto the bar, hold onto the bar

it’s simple, and it keeps your hands on the bar.  if you need to breath, do it with your hands on the bar, if you need to puke, do it with your hands on the bar.  keeping your hands on the bar will cause the ten reps to be condensed into one item to be completed instead of ten.

boxes: up and straight, step down, up and straight, step down, up and straight, step down

This is a little more complicated, but then again you have 15 to do per round.  You don’t want to do 16, so that’s why there is “straight” in the first part.  You absolutely want to make sure you stand up straight while you are on the box.  The mental impact of a no-rep is crushing.  Unless you are an elite athlete who knows they can rebound, STEP DOWN.  Today is not the day to try to find out if you can rebound.  Today is not the day to have your Open end because of an Achilles injury.  STEP DOWN!!!!

These are just some example phrases that you can have in your mind during your ten minutes of 13.2.  You know you have internal dialogue when you WOD.  You know you make mental deals with yourself when you WOD.  By pre-programming your internal dialogue you can make the deal come out in your favor.

I’m interested in hearing how you control your internal dialogue when you WOD, and what your “swing thoughts” are going to be for 13.2

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, Waiting For The Ax To Fall

Imagine Christmas Eve, but you know you’ve been a rotten kid all year, and you know Santa knows you’ve been a rotten kid all year.  You know you could have worked more consistently and gotten a muscle up, but you didn’t, and now there’s four more monday/tuesday/wednesdays you’ve got to sweat out waiting to see when muscle ups are going to appear and destroy your Open.  You know you could have worked smarter and got more coaching and lost a few more pounds so that you could do a HSPU, but you didn’t, and now NORAD has picked up Santa’s sleigh and it isn’t heading towards your town.  You know you could have tried five pistols every time you went to the box until you got one, but you didn’t, and now there’s four more WODs that might have pistols.  Ask not for whom the WOD tolls, it tolls for you, and your goats.  I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, Yes Every Rep Counts, But Some Reps Count More Than Others

So it’s Sunday morning and, like many others, I’ve had a look at the 13.1 leaderboard, both to see how my number stacks up, and to see how the superstars are doing.  A couple months ago I wrote about “firsts”, and about how some percents are different than other percents (e.g., the difference between 0 percent and 1 percent isn’t just 1 percent, it’s infinity).  (here’s the link http://jtkalnaynovels.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/dear-crossfit-the-superpowerdnf-spectrum/) 

The leaderboard is proof of corollary A of this theory.  In my demographic, people who completed 100 reps currently occupy positions 426-891.  That’s 465 people who got 40-30-30 but didn’t get 1 snatch at 135#.  Then, people who completed 101 reps occupy positions 425-385.  That’s 40 people who got 40-30-30-1 and then stopped or ran out of time.  Getting that one more rep at the breaking point made a difference of 465 positions (out of 930 reporting).  At the very top of my demographic, only  8 people are reporting 151+.  By comparison, people who had 115 reps (e.g., me) occupy positions 153-172, and people who had 116 reps occupy positions 142-152.  So, and this comes as no surprise to anyone, reps 101 and 151 count A LOT more than other reps.  On the overall individual women’s leaderboard, there are currently 24,532 reporting.  People with 100 reps occupy positions 23,828-18,439 while people with 101 reps occupy positions 18,438-17,814.  So that one particular rep counts 5,400 spots! 

Yes these numbers are going to change as more people report, but the facts are the facts.  For men, you either have the ability (both mental and physical) to do 40 burpees, 30×75# snatches, 30 more burpees, and THEN a 135# snatch or you don’t.  If you do, you’re in the top half of this demographic.  You either have the ability (both mental and physical) to do 40-30-30-30-20 and THEN a 165# snatch or you don’t.  If you do, you are in the top 10 of this demographic.

So here’s my take aways from all this:

1) The people at CrossFit are fiendishly clever at knowing where the 50% break point is and for knowing where the 1% break point is.  It’s like they’re looking in Wodify or something…

2) When you get the chance, lift heavy.

And,

3) Since muscle ups, double unders, pistols, and HSPU are all coming (things that separate a lot of people including me on the “don’t have yet”), when you get the chance, learn a new skill.

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…  (and yes I’m starting to wonder what 13.2 will be…)

CrossFit 13.1, A day later

Yestereday I wrote with chalk on my hands and sweat in my hair, in my clothes, on my face.  Today I write from a comfortable chair on a sunny later winter morning with the promise of spring just ahead.  Today I write while the girls work on their coloring books and on plusses and minusses.  Just outside the window there are geese on the ice-rimmed pond, and a cardinal is perched near the top of the tallest maple that might have a bud today.  13.1 is in my sore muscles, and still in my head.  But 13.1 is now one day in the rearview mirror.  I think I’ll schedule another date with 13.1 sometime in September, as a measuring stick, but I’ve got to let it go…

I got a chance to talk with a wordly CrossFitter whose job (police) gives him a very pragmatic and practical point of view.  He’s seen much.  He mentioned that maybe today would be a good day to reflect on how far I’ve come in the past year.  I agree, today will be the perfect day to look back on the road travelled to get to this point and also to peer into the future to see where that road may lead.  With the sun up and the paths around the farm dry enough to walk, it’ll be a great day to walk with the girls and the dogs and to see spring wrestling the earth from winter’s icy grip.  It’ll be a great day to play some horse and 21 in the barn.  It’ll be a great day for perspective, for being happy for everything we have, even while wanting to do more, to do better, to go faster.  It’ll be a great day for holding small hands and hearing the musical tinkle that is a child’s laughter in the sun.  Still, I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, Do our goals get in the way of realizing our potential?

Dear CrossFit,

I’m writing this with chalk still on my hands and sweat still in my hair from 13.1.  I’m thrilled to have reached my goal number of reps (115) but profoundly dissapointed at not getting a chance for 151.  By pacing and gaming to make sure I ABSOLUTELY got 101 and had a legitimate chance at 115 I threw away a chance to go for 151.  I’m reminded of a marathon I ran “back in the day“.  I knew my training was good, and I had a shot at 2:59:59, but I paced myself to make sure I got 3:10 and beat a long-standing PR and won a bet.  Half way into the marathon I was right on 3:09 pace and was able to start speeding it up.  I came in at 3:02:22, and while elated to have beaten 3:10, was distraught at having thrown away a chance at 2:59:59.

When we make a game plan, and we work the game plan, we can usually achieve what we set out to do.  But at the same time, that game plan can become its own artificial barrier.  Knowing what we can do can get in the way of discovering what we can do.  If we know we can climb 5.10, we might climb all the best 5.10s and never get on a 5.11.  If we know we can get 101 reps, and might be able to get 115, we pace and game to get to 101/115, virtually guaranteeing we don’t get to 151.  If we know we can make bogey by hitting the three wood, 5 iron, chipping, and two putting, we never make birdie by hitting the drive, stiffing the 8 iron, and rolling in a one putt. 

So what do we do?  Do we “go for it” and risk losing it?  That’s how the question is always asked.  But as I sit here covered in chalk, covered in sweat, happy with my 115 but p*ssed about not getting a shot at 151, I realize the question is, “do we go for it, and risk WINNING.”  Do our goals get in the way of realizing our potential?  Is there a way to re-articulate our goals so that they help instead of getting in the way?

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Dear CrossFit, Observations From Coaching Day One of The Open

I had the good fortune to volunteer a couple of hours of coaching today.  The athletes ranged from freshly minted CrossFitters to seasoned veterans, with just about everything in between.  The tasks ranged from teaching a first timer how to get her first 45# snatch (which required getting her first PVC snatch, her first 15# snatch, and her first 35# snatch), helping a regular tweak his setup (which automatically cured his big looping swing), helping one of the strongest guys around visualize his game and then shut it down (because today is practice and he is competing tomorrow), and helping two people who were in the 17 minutes of hell that is 13.1 get, respectively, the second set of 30 snatches, and one snatch (followed by 6 more) at a PR weight.  From all of these tasks, here are today’s universal truths.  When it gets heavy, you have to get UNDER the bar.  Yes you can muscle snatch and power up the light weights, but when it gets heavy, (which it does exponentially faster after a sh*t-ton of burpees), you have to get under the bar.

Thanks athletes for trusting me to coach you.  It was a pleasure.  Good luck in 13.1  I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…